Various electronic devices (wireless communication terminals) with Bluetooth (abbreviated as BT) wireless communication functions have been developed. Multiple electronic devices with these functions (hereafter referred to as ‘BT terminals’) are interconnected to form a network. For example, one BT terminal as a master (hereafter may be referred to as ‘BT access point’ or simply as ‘access point’) is connectable with the maximum of seven BT terminals as slaves (hereafter may be referred to simply as ‘terminals’) to constitute a network called Piconet. The master controls one or multiple slaves connected thereto and establishes communication with the slaves. Data packets and control packets are transmittable only between the master and the respective slaves, while direct communication between the slaves is not allowed.
In such wireless communication network systems, mutual connection authentication between the master and the respective slaves is generally required prior to actual data transmission.
Connection authentication-related techniques have been proposed, for example, in Japanese Patent Laid-Open Gazettes No. 2001-197150, No. 2001-285956, and No. 2001-223692.
There is a print service system in a public place, for example, in a family restaurant, that prints images based on image files stored in each user's digital camera (BT terminal) via a service providing server (BT access point). Each user utilizes a print service process individually provided by the service providing server to receive a desired print service through the display on a monitor located at each table in the restaurant.
Each user naturally demands to refer to image files stored in the user's own digital camera, select desired image files for printing, and give a printing instruction of the selected image files. For example, a user U1 utilizes a process PS1 to select desired image files for printing among image files stored in the user's own digital camera CM1 and give a printing instruction of the selected image files. In the case where the image files stored in the digital camera CM1 are acceptable by another process utilized by another user U2 as well as by the process PS1, the user U2 can illegally check and print the image files belonging to the user U1. In the print service system where multiple digital cameras (BT terminals) are connectable to the service providing server (BT access point), it is essential to allow only one digital camera CM1 owned by one user U1 to make connection and communication with the process PS1 utilized by the user U1, while allowing only another digital camera CM2 owned by another user U2 to make connection and communication with the process PS2 utilized by the user U2.
The BT terminal has a 48-bit identifier called BT address. This BT address is an identifier inherent to each device. Notification of the BT address given to the user's digital camera to the process utilized by the user enables the service providing server to unequivocally identify the mapping of the digital camera to the process. Such notification also ensures transfer of the information on the digital camera to the identified process. Connection authentication is performed with entries of a common PIN code (Personal Identification Number) between the BT terminal and the process utilized by the user. The successful connection authentication proves normal communication between the service providing server as the access point and the digital camera as the BT terminal.
The service providing server located in a public place naturally does not have the information on the mapping of the general users to the BT addresses given to the respective BT terminals owned by the individual users. Each user of the service providing server is thus required to notify the assigned process of the BT address of the own BT terminal. There are two available methods for such notification: (1) direct entry of the BT address; and (2) selection from a list of BT terminals connectable to the BT access point. The method (1) requires the user to accurately enter the 48-bit BT address. The method (2) requires the user to accurately select the own BT terminal based on the 48-bit BT address. The user's wrong entry or selection causes the user to fail in receiving the desired service. The user's wrong entry or selection may also cause the user to make access to another person's BT terminal. This is undesirable from the viewpoint of privacy protection.
The service system located in a public place to provide various services accordingly demands a technique of simple, convenient, and safe authentication of a normal communication link between the BT access point and each BT terminal without requiring the user's entry or selection of the BT address given to the BT terminal. Another demanded technique unequivocally identifies the mapping of the process utilized by each user to the user's own BT terminal.
The problems described above are not restricted to the wireless communication network systems where multiple BT terminals are connected to one BT access point, but are commonly found in any wireless communication network systems that utilize diversity of wireless communication standards, as well as the BT standard, for data transfer.
The technique of the invention thus aims to eliminate the drawbacks of the prior art techniques discussed above and is applied to a wireless communication network system including an access point of wireless communication (base station) connected to multiple wireless communication terminals to assure simple, convenient, and safe authentication of the multiple wireless communication terminals and to unequivocally identify the mapping of the process utilized by each user to the user's BT terminal.